“Nothing. Everything is right. Perfect, in fact. My only question is when?”
“When what?”
“When will we perform risha?”
He holds my face in his hands, a very unusual public display of affection for him. “You are ready? You will do this for me?”
“I will do this for us.” And I mean it. He needs this, as do I. “I love you, Verig. And those are words I’ve never said to anyone before, except Ethan.”
His mouth curves downward. “Love is not an orc concept, Tansey, but I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you in New Earth.”
I press my hands against his chest. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say you love me back. Even though you don’t have a word for it in Orcan, it still exists within you. I see it in everything you do for me and Ethan. I know you love me.”
“You are my mate. I will do anything to protect and make you happy.”
I crash my mouth to his. He glides his tusks over my lips as I reach and whisper in his ear. “That is love, Verig.”
“All my love is with you, Tansey. And our youngling.”
My heart squeezes every time he refers to Ethan as his.
I grip his face between my hands, as he often does with me when he wants to ensure he has my attention. “Do not worry about Haaka and Veeya’s memories. I won’t let you forget them. Ethan, too. When you are ready, you will tell us stories of them. They are a part of you, which means they’re a part of us and will forever be a part of our family.”
He lifts me and throws me over his shoulder, something he’s never done before. “I can’t wait to perform risha. I’m claiming you now!”
I laugh as he races into the mountain and through the tunnels. The night an orc kidnapped and threw me over his shoulder, I feared my life was over. And then I met Verig.
Here I am, once again balanced on an orc’s shoulder, but my life is far from over. It’s only just beginning.
EPILOGUE
TANSEY
“Ican’t believe I’m doing this,” I say as I stand naked with nothing but a fur wrapped around me like a towel. We’re in the woods. Verig, me, four warriors, and one female orc who stands witness. There’s a stone platform here, with rope, and a long knife for the official claiming.
The risha. The ceremony that will bind us.
“No one will touch you. Except me,” he reassures me.
“I know, but still…sex, in the open, with people watching…” My voice trails off because I don’t know what to say. I want him, and this is part of his culture, his traditions. Mine now. I have to stop thinking purely like a human.
“It’s never been done before, but I found a female willing to witness.”
I’m not sure that makes this harder or easier, but he’s broken tradition to try to help me. I love him for that, but still, I don’tthink I’ll be able to focus on anything other than the embarrassment.
“You are nervous,” he says.
“Yes!”
His eyes purse. “Why? Coupling is natural.”
“It’s just not something most humans do in public.”
“You said ‘most.’ Then some do have sex with others watching.”
“Some. Never me.” I try to convince myself this is nothing more than mindset. I know Verig won’t let anyone touch me, but still, this requires a vulnerability I’ve never known or imagined.
I take a deep breath and drop my fur. “Okay, let’s do this.”
